Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Hello there. It's been a while, hasn't it? During the interim this food blogger married the love of her life, then proceeded to spend two glorious weeks with said love on the island of Kauai. Planning and pulling off a wedding is no an easy feat. This, coming from a girl who relishes throwing lavish soirees. That wedding kicked my butt. Kauai healed it. And here I am. Back to cooking, writing, photographing and absolutely ready for the holidays! So, I present to you the pumpkin whoopie pie.

This isn't my first time makin' whoopie. Two years ago during the holiday season I shared these decadent chocolate peppermint whoopie pies with you, surely a Christmas treat worthy of any cookie platter. Those chocolate cake, cookie combos marked my virgin whoopie baking experience. I was immediately smitten. Whoopie pies are basically perfection. Two incredibly moist lumps of cake filled with heaps of frosting. Plus, they're pretty darn cute, especially miniaturized (the only way I've ever made them). Tiny whoopies also make a fantastic gift, as they're a bit more exciting than your standard cookie, but nearly as simple. These whoopie pies were just that, a little 'just because' giftie for a few of my nearest. We'd made plans to slurp down some spicy hot Pho on a particularly chilly Friday evening and a I had nothing to do the day of, so on a whim I decided to whip them up a little something to take home and enjoy after dinner. A bit of tissue paper, a few craft paper bags, and some yarn made the package pretty. Whoopie pies inside made them delicious. Needless to say, the recipients were quite happy. After dinner, I don't think one person made it out of the restaurant lobby before tearing open their bags and enjoying at least one of the treats buried inside.

Seeing as it's not quite December, and we have yet to celebrate Thanksgiving here in the states, chocolate and peppermint were off the table. I wanted whoopie that screamed "fall!" "autumn!", and I think these gems do just that. Pumpkin spice whoopie pies filled to the brim with a maple vanilla bean cream cheese frosting. The cakes themselves not too pumpkin-y, not too spice cake-y, I'd say a perfect balance, piled high with plenty of sweet maple filling for good measure, how could these be anything but perfection? And I swear the cakes were even moister the next day, making them a great holiday choice. You'd be safe whipping these up a day ahead and keeping them stored in an airtight container. I promise you, these whimsical little treats will be sure to delight whomever you decide to share them with, that is, if you can resist the urge to hoard them all for yourself.

Pumpkin Spice Whoopie Pies

adapted from Bon Appetit

Ingredients

(Whoopie)

3 cups unbleached AP flour

1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

3/4 teaspoon ground clove

1/2 teaspoon salt

1-1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1-1/2 teaspoon baking soda

6 Tablespoons butter (room temp)

3/4 golden brown sugar

3/4 granulated sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

3 large eggs (room temp)

15 oz pure pumpkin puree

1/2 cup milk

Ingredients

(Filling)

3 Tablespoons unsalted butter (room temp)

8 oz cream cheese (room temp)

3 cups powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon mapel-ine (maple extract)

(or subtract a bit of powdered sugar and add a few tablespoons of pure maple syrup)

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comments:

These look scrumptious and sound delicious. This is my first visit to your blog, so I took some time to browse through your earlier posts. I'm so glad I did that. I really love the food and recipes you share with your readers. I'll definitely be back. I hope you have a great day. Blessings...Mary